John McCain: Dishonest and Dishonorable

Outsourced to Jane Hamsher:

McCain “Deeply Ashamed Of What He Did To His First Wife”: The conversation... predictably wandered to the topic of what an honorable guy John McCain was. At which point I had to inject that "honorable" wasn't the first word I'd use to describe someone who came home after Vietnam, cheated on his handicapped wife and left her for a cheerleader beer heiress who could finance his political ambitions. JPod scoffed and said that was a liberal interpretation of the facts, and how did I know what went on between two people.

I was actually about to give him that when Joe Klein interjected, "I've talked to McCain about what happened and he's deeply ashamed of what he did to his first wife." I hadn't heard that before.... [T]his does raise the question -- if the over 65 white women demographic is so very important to McCain right now, why aren't there ads out there bringing this to the fore? It does touch a nerve with women. From Cathy Meyer, who writes about divorce support:

If John McCain felt good about his actions toward his first wife, he would not be sidestepping questions about the subject. I want to know what he was thinking 30 years ago. What beliefs he held back then that helped him justify cheating on his wife and whether or not those beliefs have changed.... Thirty years ago, John McCain wanted Cindy. He did whatever he had to do to get Cindy. That included destroying his family. Leaving a wife, someone who had waited for him while he was a POW, had been severely injured in a car accident and was quite dependent on her husband. He broke up the family of his young children because his desire for a woman 17 years his junior was more important than the needs of the woman he was already married to and the needs of his children. John McCain now wants to be president. We know from his past actions that when McCain wants something he is willing to go about getting it in an immoral way. His refusal to openly answer questions about the failure of his first marriages causes me to question whether his belief system has changed. Does he still believe that it is OK to get what you want in spite of whom you have to hurt in the process?

Female journalists like Katie Couric and Andrea Mitchell are already beginning to get crispy toward the McCain campaign and their daily caterwauling about "sexism" toward Sarah Palin. (Coming from a guy who makes rape jokes, the irony shouldn't be hard for anyone to grasp.)

The Obama campaign killed off the 527s who would normally handle this kind of thing. But if the McCain campaign has decided that we're going to decide this race on "character," and calling Obama a child molester is fair game, then there's no reason why the Obama campaign can't raise the issue themselves.

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John McCain: Dishonest and Dishonorable

Outsourced to Jane Hamsher:

McCain “Deeply Ashamed Of What He Did To His First Wife”: The conversation... predictably wandered to the topic of what an honorable guy John McCain was. At which point I had to inject that "honorable" wasn't the first word I'd use to describe someone who came home after Vietnam, cheated on his handicapped wife and left her for a cheerleader beer heiress who could finance his political ambitions. JPod scoffed and said that was a liberal interpretation of the facts, and how did I know what went on between two people.

I was actually about to give him that when Joe Klein interjected, "I've talked to McCain about what happened and he's deeply ashamed of what he did to his first wife." I hadn't heard that before.... [T]his does raise the question -- if the over 65 white women demographic is so very important to McCain right now, why aren't there ads out there bringing this to the fore? It does touch a nerve with women. From Cathy Meyer, who writes about divorce support:

If John McCain felt good about his actions toward his first wife, he would not be sidestepping questions about the subject. I want to know what he was thinking 30 years ago. What beliefs he held back then that helped him justify cheating on his wife and whether or not those beliefs have changed.... Thirty years ago, John McCain wanted Cindy. He did whatever he had to do to get Cindy. That included destroying his family. Leaving a wife, someone who had waited for him while he was a POW, had been severely injured in a car accident and was quite dependent on her husband. He broke up the family of his young children because his desire for a woman 17 years his junior was more important than the needs of the woman he was already married to and the needs of his children. John McCain now wants to be president. We know from his past actions that when McCain wants something he is willing to go about getting it in an immoral way. His refusal to openly answer questions about the failure of his first marriages causes me to question whether his belief system has changed. Does he still believe that it is OK to get what you want in spite of whom you have to hurt in the process?

Female journalists like Katie Couric and Andrea Mitchell are already beginning to get crispy toward the McCain campaign and their daily caterwauling about "sexism" toward Sarah Palin. (Coming from a guy who makes rape jokes, the irony shouldn't be hard for anyone to grasp.)

The Obama campaign killed off the 527s who would normally handle this kind of thing. But if the McCain campaign has decided that we're going to decide this race on "character," and calling Obama a child molester is fair game, then there's no reason why the Obama campaign can't raise the issue themselves.

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